Unfortunate Circumstances
by Balto Kodiak
Summary: Harry had another friend before Hogwarts. Only thing is, she was descended from a family of wizard thieves. After being expelled and sentenced to five years in Azkaban, Dodger Dent returns under unfortunate circumstances. Rated T just to be safe
1. Remembering

**Unfortunate Circumstances**

**Chapter 1: Remembering**

**A/N: I have no idea where this came from. I was watching Goblet of Fire, and this entered my mind. Lemme know what you think, I'm not exactly a Harry Potter genius, so forgive me for my mistakes and take it easy. Begins at the end of the events of the third movie and continues from there.**

If anything, Harry Potter was glad that all the hype about werewolves and Sirius Black was over. Almost losing a family friend, who is also his Godfather, made him start thinking of the first friend he ever had: Dodger Dent. She and her father lived next door to him and the Dursleys all his life. They met when they were six, while Dodger was trying to climb over the fence to get to the Dursley's backyard to get a ball, and Harry found it and gave it back. They soon became inseparable. Dodger would hop the fence and visit Harry everyday. However, there was a small problem.

Dodger comes from a family of thieves and wizards going back thousands of years. The Dent family was infamous in the wizard world and the muggle world for committing crimes all over the world both with and without magic. Dodger's father, Connor Dent, often took Dodger on long heists with him to teach her the "family trade." From the time she was three, Dodger had always dreamed of being the perfect thief, and making her father proud.

Dodger was also a tomboy to the extreme. Anything girl-ish to her was repulsive and stupid. So, to save himself trouble, Connor just let her wear whatever she wanted. She had light brown hair of moderate length, golden-brown eyes, and was very tall and muscular for her age. More so than all the girls in town that they knew of.

Connor was a medium-sized man, with brown hair, a mustache, and the beginnings of a beard. He wore a gray hat, and carried his cane wherever he went. The cane was a very special one, the staff was crafted out of the finest, toughest wood, with a polished gold hook on the top. That cane was his pride and joy, to be handed down later to his other pride and joy, Dodger. She couldn't wait for the day when she inherited the cane and the Dent family's most valued treasure: an ancient book titled "Fur Morus," which is Latin for "The Thief Mutt." It is a book that has been written by the Dent family to pass on for future generations to chronicle their own adventures and thieving skills since around 1300 BC.

Harry could remember distinctly all the stories Dodger told him, that her father had told her. Unfortunately, the Dursleys hated the Dents because they were dishonest thieves, and everybody knew it. Hardly any of the neighborhood kids would play with Dodger, because she was the kind of kid that parents warn their kids not to associate with. Dodger didn't mind, though. She had her father and Harry to hang out with.

When it came time for Harry to go to Hogwarts at age eleven, Dodger went with him. Ron seemed to take to Dodger quite well, but Hermione was very weary. Dodger wasn't the most trustworthy or honest person in the world, in fact, many were surprised when she got put in Gryffindor house with them, but she was good-natured and Harry knew it, and Dumbledore recognized it.

The first year was pleasant for them all, but the second year was very rough. Dodger had been caught stealing from some professors, and accidentally performed a spell in front of a muggle. Harry remembered the trial quite vividly:

"Miss Dodger Dent. You are here today because you have been accused of the following crimes..." the judge said, retrieving a piece of parchment from under several folders. "For stealing, and posessing stolen property from numerous Hogwartz professors and for performing magic in the presence of a muggle."

The twelve year-old witch stood in handcuffs in front of the Ministry of Magic, as well as half of Gryffindor house. After a long process of presenting evidence and cross-examination, the jury had reached a verdict. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat with the other Gryffindors awaiting the verdict.

"The jury finds miss Dodger Dent guilty as charged for all accused crimes."

"Yes. Very well. Miss Dent, your actions are hardly forgivable. Therefore, your judgment is this..." the entire room sat on the edge of their seats, hoping for the best.

"Expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and five years in Azkaban prison." The judge then hammered his mallet on the table.

"No!" Harry wanted to yell, but it was against his better judgment. Dodger was his best friend, he couldn't handle the rest of his time at Hogwarts without her. As two guards led her out of the courtroom, Dodger showed no emotion. She was probably wondering how her father would feel about it. She did her family name no justice by getting caught.

Harry had to finish off his second year without Dodger. Of course, he still had Ron and Hermione, but Dodger he had known almost his whole life. He knew it wasn't the end of the world, but it didn't feel good.

He remembered the look on her face as she was being led out. As much as she tried to show no emotion, Harry could tell she was feeling like a disgrace to her family. Pride was important in the Dent family, and hers was severely wounded.

Oh, how familiar the memory of that day was for Harry Potter. That was the last time he would ever see Dodger Dent...or so he thought.

**A/N: So...what? Should I keep writing this? Sorry it's so short, I can't think very well at midnight while writing on my iPod.**


	2. Escape

**Unfortunate Circumstances**

**Chapter 2: Escape**

**A/N: This is at the beginning of the fourth movie.**

Boy, was Azkaban depressing. It was damp and dark, and offered little protection from the weather. It was common for inmates to fall ill from the cold and damp, and though many recovered, some didn't. It was these conditions that led a certain Dodger Dent to attempt the impossible: escape from Azkaban.

It was ridiculous, but the now fourteen year-old Dodger was desperate. How anybody could manage this, she didn't know. She felt she had to clear the Dent name, and felt that escape was the only way to continue the thieving tradition.

Azkaban had heavily lowered its number of dementors and replaced them with standard wand-wielding guards as an experiment. The dementors proved to be far too dangerous. Dodger brought out her wand from her pocket, and opened the door. She then cautiously stepped out of her cell and into the corridor. Then, she silently jumped up onto the roof through a skylight into the moonlight. Funny. She thought escape from Azkaban would be more of a challenge.

That's when a guard owl gave out a shriek, attracting the attention of every guard on the grounds. It probably would've been important for her to see the owl first.

"Dodger Dent, I should've known you'd try and escape." Said a guard with his wand pointed in her direction. Dodger merely smirked and, with a flick of her wand, vanished leaving the guards ultimately confused.

She hadn't had her wand on her the whole time; she stole it from the warden's office. It was a classic Dent move to vanish into thin air.

News of Dodger's escape spread like wildfire throughout the wizard world. Every front page of the Daily Prophet had the same headline: "Thief Escapes From Azkaban!" with a moving photograph of Dodger when she was being led out of the courthouse a year ago.

There was lots of panic; for fear that Dodger might be armed and dangerous. Harry knew better. Dodger would fight, but she'd never kill anyone. Hermione, on the other hand, agreed with what others said and was yapping about it to him now.

"Harry, I've done some reading on Dodger's family." She began.

"And?" Harry questioned.

"And, her family's thieving reputation goes back to about 1300 BC. She was a born-to-be thief and you know it. I can't believe you ever trusted her."

"Dodger is my friend. She may not be the most honest person in the world but she's been my friend since I was six. The reason I trusted her was because she gave me reason to." Harry argued. He didn't like fighting with Hermione, because it's incredibly hard to win.

"Whatever. I think she's a no-good dirty thief, but believe what you want, Harry Potter." That said, Hermione walked in a different direction. Ron then appeared out of nowhere and started talking.

"Bloody hell, Harry, can you believe she escaped from Azkaban so easily? I wonder how she did it. It's bloody impossible you know?" Ron ranted.

"Yes, Ron, I know. And if it were impossible to escape from Azkaban, don't you think she would still be in Azkaban?" Harry had a point. It was no use complaining about the security level at the prison, while Dodger was out roaming the streets. Harry only hoped she hadn't gone mental because of the experience in Azkaban.

Dodger reappeared at her home on Privet Drive, where she saw the upstairs light on. Connor was usually home around this time, maybe she could take the _Fur Morus_ and be on her way back. However, when she opened the door and turned on the light, the whole house was messy. Furniture was flung everywhere, vases broken, curtains torn, everything. The house had been ransacked.

"Dad? Dad!" Dodger called. No answer. "Dad! Are you here? Hello? Dad!"

Dodger frantically ran up the stairs to her father's study, where he lay on the floor, bruised and bloody with a family picture lying underneath his arm. Dodger's eyes welled up with tears, as she knelt down beside her father and hugged him like her life depended on it. The brutality of his wounds indicated that he was severely beaten.

At last, Dodger felt Connor stir. He turned to look up at his daughter, one eye swelled shut. Still, even in this condition, Connor was to Dodger the greatest man in the world. He then opened his mouth to speak, but Dodger stopped him.

"Shh. Be still, dad. Don't talk, there's nothing more you need take from this. It can wait." Dodger said through tears.

"Dodger, your mother's calling me. I have to go." Connor whispered hoarsely.

"No, dad! You can't leave, I'm only fourteen, and the _Fur Morus_ was stolen, what do I have to live off of?" Dodger argued.

"You are destined to be a thief, Dodger. Use your God-given talent and steal back the _Fur Morus._ You escaped from Azkaban. You are ready to inherit the cane. Take it, and do our family name justice." That said, Connor closed his eyes, and let out his last breath. Dodger, too tough to cry, simply hugged her father for several seconds, then stood.

She then looked in her father's closet and brought out his cane. The minute she held the cane in her hand, Dodger felt a growing anger develop. She was going to get back at whoever did this, avenge her father, and steal back the _Fur Morus_. She took the picture Connor had under his arm out of the frame and put it in her pocket, then took his hat from atop his head and put it on. It was still a bit big, but Dodger knew she'd grow into it.

With this mission in mind and those thoughts in her head, Dodger left the house and went to the only place she could: Hogwarts.

**A/N: Again, sorry it's so short. I write at 10-12 o'clock at night, so my brain doesn't function the best. I have testing at school for three days, so I might not get much done then. Don't forget to review! :)**


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